A walkthrough before a single box moves
On arrival the crew walks every room with you before touching anything, noting which stairwell is tight, which doorway might need a door lifted off its hinges, and which items are staying behind. Shane usually leads this part on a bigger job, because five minutes of looking prevents an hour of guessing once the truck is half loaded.
This is also when floor runners and corner padding go down, which matters more in a Sherwood Park condo with a shared stairwell or an older Strathcona County home with narrow original trim than it does in a newer build with wide doorways.
Loading in an order that makes sense at the other end
Heavy furniture and appliances go on first, low and centred, with boxes stacked around and above so nothing shifts once the truck is on the highway. A dresser loaded last to save a few minutes just ends up as the first thing pulled off, which is backwards if it needs to go straight into a basement.
Anything you have flagged as needed the first night, bedding, a kettle, a change of clothes, rides separately from the rest rather than getting buried at the back of the box.
What the drive looks like on a shorter run
A move between Sherwood Park and Fort Saskatchewan or one of the acreages in between rarely takes long on its own, but the crew still does a strap check before pulling out of the driveway every time. A loose strap costs more time to fix on the shoulder than it ever saves by skipping the check.
On a day with two jobs back to back, the truck gets a walk around between them, doors, tires, tie downs, before it goes anywhere near a second driveway.
Placing furniture where you actually want it
We would rather ask twice than guess once. If a couch could reasonably sit against either wall, we ask before setting it down, because shifting a loaded couch a second time costs the crew more effort than a five second answer costs you.
Boxes go into the room written on the label rather than wherever there happens to be floor space, so unpacking starts in the right spot instead of a hallway pile that has to be sorted twice over.
The last walk before we leave
Before the truck pulls away we walk the old place with you once more, checking closets, the cupboard above the fridge, and the spots small items tend to hide, then do the same walk at the new place to confirm everything that left has arrived.
Any scuff or mark on either end gets pointed out on the spot rather than found later, and the crew notes it before they leave so there is never a question about when it happened.